Oil-coated turtles found in Chumphon

Oil-coated turtles found in Chumphon

Oil coats the shell and body of a green turtle rescued by Chumphon fishermen. (Photo by Amnart Thongdee)
Oil coats the shell and body of a green turtle rescued by Chumphon fishermen. (Photo by Amnart Thongdee)

Authorities are investigating the source of the oil that coated two sea turtles trapped in an abandoned fishing net and rescued by local fishermen in Chumphon.

Officials from the provincial office of the Energy Ministry on Saturday collected oil samples found on the two green turtles. The samples will be sent to the ministry’s Department of Mineral Fuels for laboratory tests.

A source at the office said it was not known whether the oil found on the turtles came from a spill that washed up on beaches in Lang Suan and nearby districts last month, or from a new spill.

Fisherman Srichai Khayayont, 39, said he and two colleagues spotted the turtles trapped in an abandoned fishing net about eight nautical miles out from tambon Suan Taeng in Lamae district. The turtles had sustained injuries and their eyes were covered with oil, he said. He and his friends took the turtles to their boat and immediately alerted the Lamae district fisheries office.

Local residents tried to remove the oil from the animals’ bodies but had little success and had to seek expert help.

Watchara Sakornwimol, a veterinarian with the Marine and Coastal Research Center in Chumphon, said the two green turtles were about 42 centimetres long and weighed 5 kilogrammes each. They were aged between 3 and 5 years but their sex could not be determined as they were too young. The turtles were given first aid before being sent for treatment at the research centre, she said.

Ratree Chantharat, chief of the Lamae fisheries office, said an oil spill had had recently washed up on Lamae beach and she had not received any reports about impact on marine animals until the two turtles were found.

She said her agency would coordinate with others to survey the impact of oil sticks on marine animals.


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